MCSM: Legend of Zircon
by NguyetMieu
Summary: Once again, the Order of the Stone's infamous luck had landed them in another crazy adventure that was unsurprisingly related to the Portal Hallway! Only this time, Ivor had 'eloped' with the Atlas. How would Jesse find his way to the right world, before Beacon Town crumbles into nothingness?
1. Chapter 1

He always knew natural disasters are a part of life.

But this totally take the cake. A large earthquake split a mountain in half, the water from the river flood the entire valley, most of the trees were broken in half, constant rains on one city and drought on the other. The citizens are complaining about flood that ruin their crops, or wild animals running into towns, taking shelters from said flood. This has been continuing for a while now, about a year after the monstrosity known as the Wither Storm had ended in the Order of the Stone's victory.

His home, Beacon Town was also affected. Trades was stopped because of boulders stopping the trading caravans from the northern region, and he can't import the goods from his town to other place as well. Crops were destroyed because of aforementioned disaster. It is constantly raining, so much that it's actually starting to build up, since the sewer can't get the water out in time. A letter from Olivia confirmed that Redstonia hasn't rain for months. Jesse, being the mayor of Beacon town, was sent to investigate the cause.

"J-Jesse, this is horrible!" The brunette glanced over his shoulder, where his newest assistant is looking at everything with wide eyes.

The boy has tan skin, with coal pupil, black hair and wore blue jeans, a green and white jacket along with a blue tie and black glasses. Radar was originally from somewhere called 'Champion City'. Apparently, he hates his boss, so he quits his job. Jesse would have to watch the boy for a while, since he couldn't trust him yet.

After all, he didn't get this far by being trusting to strangers.

But then again, the boy had passed most of the tests Jesse had about his intentions and capabilities to handle Beacon Town in his absences. Truthfully, Jesse actually found his bubbly personality quite amusing.

"Indeed, this is rather...alarming. I don't think earthquakes ever get this bad, to be honest."

Ah, there is his old mentor. Gabriel had helped him through hardships and tough times. Developing and rebuilding a town is no easy joke after all. The Wither Storm didn't spare anything in it's wake. Even though they are comrades now, the brunette couldn't help but curse Ivor for his stupidity sometime. Jesse could vividly recalled the time when he was practically surrounded by paperworks and having a lot of meeting scheduled. If Gabriel hadn't intervened, 'Slayer of the Wither Storm' would be six-foot underground, and written on his tombstone would be 'Crushed to Death by Paperworks.' Really, Axel would never leave him alone if that happen.

Suppressing a chuckle of amusement, he assess the damage. This is a serious matter after all.

It has been two years since the defeat of the Wither Storm, and everything is going along its way as if the monster had never attacked in the first place, if you exclude the random bouts of disasters that has been happening, that is. Jesse took over the leadership of his home and renamed it the Beacon town, true to the colorful beacons within its wall, the reward for slaying the Wither Storm. Ellegaard and Olivia went back to Redstonia to pursue their career, as Olivia was promised an apprenticeship to Ellegaard. Axel, wanting to succeed Magnus's legacy, went to Boomtown to try and gain the citizen's respect, then be a leader in honor of Magnus. Lukas, after finishing his book about the New Order, travels around the world as a journalist, while also acting as Beacon town's information network. In fact, it was him who had informed Jesse about the natural disasters happening. Petra is currently working at the mine, very enthusiastic as they'd hit a spot where there are quite a bit of goods needs to be mined. She is content as far as he knew.

Harper and Ivor pretty much disappeared right after. No letters, no nothing. Biting back a sigh, Jesse shakes his head. Only if he had been more careful, then the potion master wouldn't stole the Atlas right under their nose. The only constant in his life is Gabriel now. The people from the Murder Mansion and The Games had come too. Stampy and Stacy are making themselves at home with their new puppy, Wink. Emily had been a tremendous help, something which Jesse is eternally grateful for, with her crops and fresh vegetables are the most loved in the town. Reuben, the usher of course, became a mailman that deliver mails across Beacon town. Lately, Emily had hired him to deliver bottles of fresh milk to the neighborhood every morning. Needless to say, everyone was delighted to have access to fresh milk, to go with some crunchy, crispy apple turnovers and ice cream in the morning. Yum!

Jesse is snap out of his musings as Gabriel groaned loudly into the palm of his hand, and smacking his forehead.

"I might have some ideas as to what our problem really is." Gabriel grimly informed him, peaking the brunette's interest. They had walked back to town after noting the damage done to a clearing near Beacon town. It was a half an hour walk, so they was able to discuss some strategies for the upcoming disasters. It is getting worse everyday. Who knows, maybe before we even blink, another Wither Storm will come and rip the whole world apart, yet again.

"And it is?" Jesse arched an eyebrow. For his mentor to be reacting this way, the reasons must be borderline stupid, or maybe even something obvious that they should know already.

Gabriel sigh, suddenly feeling twice his age. If his suspicions is true, then it is very unfortunate. "You see, Ivor is a scientist through and through, but there was a time when he was interested in...miscellaneous stuffs. Mostly ghosts or heavenly being. I remembered him rambling about 'reincarnations' and 'headless ghosts' back in the days." Gabriel stop to snort; seems like he is remembering times, when they were a well-functioning team. "So he came across an old book, that wrote something about this. Apparently there is a pillar of some sort that held a powerful gem; a Zircon, to be precise."

"Zircon? Never heard of that."

Gabriel shrugged. "Welcome abroad. Anyway, it has an ocean blue color and shaped like a hexagon, if I remembered correctly. It is really bright and half-transparent. The pillar and the stone is stuck together for stability. If the stone is removed, then well...you know." The warrior made a hand gesture around him. Jesse internally winced.

"So the stone, somehow, had been removed if your theory is correct."

"This is where I cursed Ivor for his stupidity! The fool actually had the gall to remove and take the pillar home with him!" Jesse nearly fell off the ruby armchair and Radar gaped. The latter is bringing some beverage into Jesse's personal library for his two boss as requested, and nearly drop the two mugs in shock. Gabriel throw his hands up in exasperation, "I know! He said, and I quote: 'For Science, I would even sell my soul for the devil!'. But years had passed, and nothing happened. I even made sure of it. The pillar's fine, everything is fine. Nothing disastrous as it is now. But unfortunately, I am not an expert, nor a scientist."

Jesse sipped his tea and place the mug on to his desk. The lad can already feel a headache coming. "What about Soren? Wouldn't he know of this?"

"Actually, no one but me and Ivor have the knowledge of the Zircon stone in the Order." Gabriel rub his temple in irritation. "Apparently, Ivor and Soren was having some kind of competition as to who have the best research then. Ivor was starting to drift apart from everyone else, because of the," The warrior wave his hands in the air absently, and Jesse immediately understand. "...incident. Soren's research is about the Command Block, but after what happened, it is unspoken that Ivor won by default."

"The pillar and his research notes is in that base at the Far Land. We probably have to go and check if the stone is gone, or the pillar is broken."

"That is sound logic. We shall leave at the end of the week. And Radar?" Jesse turned around to face his companion. Radar squeaked. "I trust you to handle Beacon town for me while we're gone. Can you do that?"

"O-of c-course, Jesse! I-It's no problem! Ha-ha!" Radar scratch the back of his head, trying not to appear nervous but failed miserably. He'd been an assistant for only two months, and Jesse is trusting him to handle things. He will not fail!

"You sure there?" Gabriel ask, voice filled with skepticism.

Radar look offended. "Of course, sir. I shall perform to the best of my ability. Beacon town will not have so much as a scratch with my super vision." He push his glasses up and run out of the room, leaving Jesse and Gabriel behind. The two chuckle at the boy's antics, before turning serious once more.

"You already know how dangerous the Far Land can be. Back up plans?"

Jesse simply smirked. "Way ahead of you there. I bet Petra will be ecstatic for a break from mining."

* * *

"A vacation from the dirty, suffocating mine to sorting out a bunch of books. Why Jesse, this is the best vacation ever! One that I've never hoped to have!" Petra's voice is dripping with sarcasm, as she chuck a book at the mentioned boy's head.

After sending an invitation to Petra in the guise of 'picnic at the Far Land', they headed out at the end of that week on horses at top speed. The traveling had been incredibly taxing, as note from Gabriel's grumblings. But they eventually reaches the swamp, where Petra screamed she'd had enough and promptly took a break. Dinner was potatoes and beef stew, since that were the only ingredients available around them.

The Swamps consists of several sand and grass islands with a lot of oak trees growing on them. They are covered in vines, and the oak trees almost look like spruce tree because they have much darker leaves. As they were finishing dinner, they decided to make camp for the night. Gabriel went to scout the area, while Petra set some traps for wild animals. For some reason, there are a lot of chickens here, even more than sheep or pigs. Slimes are also spotted at night, so extra measures have to be taken.

In the morning after breakfast, several witches decided to attack. Jesse was prepared this time, and most importantly, was full instead of on the edge of starvation like last time. He drew his enchanted diamond sword, and his two companions drew their respective weapons. Gabriel had laughed at the nostalgic situation when the skeletons made their appearance, leaving a confused Petra; as she weren't here last time.

Eventually, they left the biome, and went to the edge of the world. Petra was amazed by the floating islands and waterfall. And now that Jesse noticed it, underneath the waterfall lead to the Void. He involuntarily shuddered. Good thing he'd noticed it before charging in this time. Looking cool is useless if you are dead after all.

The maze were still the same as ever, with ruined walls and various mobs hanging around the place. The trio decided to do it the same old way; climbing the vine and hop across the walls. Luckily, the piston machine, whatever its official name is, is still good since Olivia'd fixed it, so they were able to get to Ivor's cottage quickly, and of course trolling the zombies just for the fun of it.

Gabriel informed them that Ivor left his research notes about the Zircon pillar somewhere around the sea of books that is Ivor's library. So that leads to the scene before us now; Jesse is sitting on top of a mountain of notebooks, checking what is possibly the 200th one of the day. Gabriel is lounging around, sorting the book that could be the one, as he is the only one out of them all had witnessed the notebook when Ivor made it. He claimed that Ivor stuck the notes in a single amber notebook when the latter reached the dead end of his study, then threw it somewhere, only to be forgotten until now. Petra is having ideas about burning down the entire place and pray to all the God out there that the pillar isn't flammable.

Jesse effortlessly catch the book with one hand. "Now, now. Patient is a virtue, Petra. And thank you for the compliment."

She ungracefully snort and went back to work. The brunette put the book down after the final examination, and wander around the room. All the books on the shelves, so far, have proven to be useless. The information was mostly for Ivor's other research, but not the research notes itself. They are heading nowhere with the speed that they are doing, and this really frustrate him, in contrast to his calm demeanor outside. He snap out of his internal conflicts as he heard Gabriel's yell:

"Finally! Something relevant!"

Jesse and Petra immediately went to the warrior, who is waving a piece of paper around enthusiastically. "Ivor wrote all of his experiments that was done in this cottage here. Apparently, he had hidden the amber notebook behind the painting! He also drew the location of the pillar, too!"

Petra quickly grabbed the piece of paper and read, confirming what Gabriel just said. But as Jesse look around, no painting are in sight.

"You sure? There is no painting here." The brunette cross his arm over his chest.

Petra jerk her head to the side. "There was one, actually. A broken painting on top of the bed. It has a dirt block in the wall instead of a wood block. Ivor must've been too lazy to go and grab some wood."

Jesse raised an eyebrow, but walk to the bed nonetheless. Indeed, there is a painting on the floor and a dirt block on the wall. He punch the dirt block out of the way. There is a picture frame with...nothing?

"Someone'd already taken the notebook!" He exclaim, a little louder than necessary.

That got the two's attention, as they immediately run to the bed. They inspect the hole, checking for traps and illusions, but found none. The notebook simply isn't there.

"Maybe he changed the location? We wouldn't know..." Petra glance at Gabriel and mutter.

After a while, the trio decided that the best course of action is to visit the pillar first. They found themselves inside a cave that have a lot of azure crystals stuck out from the rocks, illuminating the dark cave. A colony of bats flew out of the cave almost immediately as they stepped in, scaring the three half to death. The cave itself isn't very deep, and is well hidden behind a waterfall. After a fifteen minutes walk, they found a giant room with soft blue light radiated from the middle.

A gigantic pillar is standing in the very middle, on the complex aqua tiles and gemstones decorating it. There is huge glass pane that cover the four wall, transparent to the sea outside. Petra let out a small sound of wonder, while Gabriel simply gape. There are small fishes swimming around the deep ocean. A knock to the glass dome told the brunette that this will never be destroy by larger marine animals. The room is simply a piece of art.

"Amazing...Lukas would kill to write about this." Petra was shocked. And amazed. Ivor is crude, and dare she say it, stupid. But creating a chamber like this requires a great imagination and lots of thought put into it. For all the bad blood she had with the man, she can grudgingly admit that he is someone worth looking up to.

"Hold up! Look at the middle of the pillar, you two!" Gabriel suddenly exclaimed.

They both turn their attention to the main character of this chamber. There, under the soft blue light it radiated, a hexagon-shaped hole was imbedded on the crystal structure, in all it's glory. But the Zircon stone is no where to be found.

The room starts shaking violently.


	2. Chapter 2

After half an hour of crumbling, Jesse had deemed it is safe enough to get out of their hiding place. The group hurriedly left the chamber. The cave is still standing, and nothing had happened to it, but in the distance, Jesse and the others can see a mass of obsidians and cobblestones floating on the water. The marine animals were shocked to their core, and now have problem readjusting back to normal. Some fish was _boiled_ when the cobblestones and obsidian made its appearance. The two appeared in a middle of the ocean? Lava. Lava and Earthquake? Volcano eruption. One look at his companion tells him that they were thinking along the same line.

They ran out of the cave, and narrowly dodged their deaths as a boulder fell. From there, they swam up the waterfall, and climbed uphill. Their eyes widened at the horror in front of them.

Ivor's cottage is on fire. The main structure collapsed, letting Jesse know that it is too late to save anything inside that house. Luckily they have moved everything valuable to the New Order's treasure room, but a large portion of Ivor's research is still in there. He will be devastated to hear about it once he is back. Not only the house and the slime-piston machine, the whole maze is on fire; lava had filled the maze almost completely, only leaving a few paths for escape. Even then you'd have to jump from wall to wall, and failure is not an option, seeing as you will be cook alive. Jesse can still hear some mobs' agonizing screams as they were burnt alive. Well, as alive as a zombie can be.

Without second thoughts, they immediately left the place. Going back to Beacon town and relax seems like a really good idea now.

* * *

"What. The. Heck. Was. That?!" Petra exclaimed in frustration, once they have passed the Beacon town gates, and into the safety of Jesse's office.

No one had spoken a word during the journey back, as they too, were shocked by the sudden developments. Radar looked worriedly at Jesse, who is clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hand, and Gabriel, who lounge lazily across the sofa. But if you actually notice, his posture is stiff and tense, like he is ready to attack at any moment. Petra just paced around the office, asking the rhetorical question that Radar have no answers to.

At a corner of the room, Axel stood there, leaning against the wall and look on the scene, while next to him, Lukas is sitting on the lime bean bag and work on his next book. On the floor, Olivia and Ellegaard are discussing strategies for a new type of redstone contraption they've thought of during their journey here. The four of them are wise enough to give the trio some time to gather their thoughts, as it seems to be a really important matter. Lukas is here because of his bi-annual visits, while Ellegaard and Olivia are here to discuss some trading problems due to the natural disasters happening. As for Axel, he just came for the fun of it.

Still, it took Radar every fiber of his being to not squeal and faint right then and there. Most of the Old Order and the New Order are here, in this room, and most importantly, drinking his tea!

 _'Oh, what have I done to deserve this honor?_ ' Radar mused to himself.

"A volcano eruption, obviously." Gabriel drawled, oblivious to Radar's thoughts.

"Gabriel, just in case you haven't notice, there wasn't a bloody volcano there in the first place!" Petra growled.

 _That_ got everyone's attention. "What do you mean by that?" Ellegaard inquired.

"She is saying that there was never a volcano spotted." Jesse rubbed his temple, trying to gather his thought process. "And before you ask, no, the lava did not came from the ground. There were no cracks that large despite the earthquake beforehand. As for where did the lava came from, I don't know. That is the million dollar question, isn't it?"

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "What about the hole that surrounded the place next to the piston machine? Could the lava comes from there?"

Gabriel shook his head. "It wasn't, I assure you. There was no lava from the bottom, and none at the top either. It is almost as if...it just magically appears."

"Sounds oddly like the natural disasters that happens recently." Lukas rubbed his chin, clearly deep in thought.

"And that brings us to another point that needs to be made. It is awesome timing that you guys got here, by the way. Everything that will be spoken in this room must remains a secret between us, as the political strains will be heavy if coupled this in. We do not need so many problems at the same time. Any questions?" Everyone shook their head. "Now Gabriel, if you would do the honor."

It took Gabriel a good portion of that hour to get everyone informed of the whole story. Needless to say, many were skeptical at first, especially the two engineers, as they were used to logical things that had a definite explanation. A stone that causes the natural disasters to occur are way above their comprehensions. But since no one have a better idea, they concluded that the Zircon gem is the problem now. They decided that searching the chamber again would be useless. The stone is gone, coupled with the fact that the notebook are also gone, it's safe to say that someone had took them and vanish. There are no traces to be followed, and the team is at a dead end. Axel suggested putting something of the same shape in there, but Gabriel shot the idea down immediately; Ivor had claimed that only the Zircon gem would work. The warrior had been there himself to tested it.

"What if we find this 'Zircon' material and replace the gem with a newly made one?" Ellegaard had suggested.

Axel shot back. "Where would we find it? I personally have never heard of this 'Zircon' thingy before."

"Well, one of the portal in the Portals Hallway ought to have it, right?" Petra added in her own two cents.

The blonde journalist's face pale in horror. "Are you saying we have to go back there again?"

Out of everyone else here, the Lukas hated that place the most. It's creepy, foreboding and brought bad memories. If it was up to him he'd burn the place down and forget that it had ever existed.

"That would be impractical. That idiot Ivor had grabbed the Portal Atlas, has he not?" Gabriel said in resignation, throwing his hands in the air for good measure.

Jesse pinches the bridge of his nose. He had knew that it would come back to bite them in the ass someday, but never this soon. They can not just risk jumping around from portal to portal until they find the Zircon. It would be a waste of time and time is something they could not afford. Not right now. It is also very dangerous, as proven by their very close run-in with PAMA. If Harper hadn't been there...

Jesse snapped his finger as an idea came to mind. "What about Otto?"

"What of him?" Olivia raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You want to ask him about the Zircon?" Lukas glanced at his best friend. That is a fine idea indeed. The Old Builders was the one who made that thing in the very first place. They should know how to get around without getting lost. Once had been more than enough, thank you very much.

"Yes. He can also pinpoints us to the correct portal to go, and the general informations as well. Without the Atlas, he is our next best choice."

"Sounds fine to me." Petra grinned. "I'm definitely coming then."

"Count me in." Lukas smirked, and Axel also shared the sentiment. Others simply nodded.

"But do you have any guarantee that it would work?" Ellegaard questioned. Jesse simply shrug, as he did not know the answer to that either. It will be down to luck. They started planning the other alternatives, different solutions, approaches, equipments,...

Radar was awed. From simply a piece of crumbled notebook, to dozens after dozens of ideas in the span of an hour. The Orders worked so well together, and he himself couldn't believe how lucky he is to witness first-hand their plans for this stone thing that apparently is the very cause of disasters. This time, it is a plan to save the entire world.

Finally, what seems like an eternity of planning, Jesse turned to him.

"And Radar? I trust you can handle Beacon town while we're gone, yes?"

Despite himself, he couldn't stop himself from squeaking in front of those intense emerald orbs that seemed to be looking straight at his soul.

"O-of c-course, Jesse! You could count on me!"

And Radar meant it.

* * *

"It's been at least two years since we've last visited, right?" Petra asked gleefully. No one answered; they knew a rhetorical question when they heard one.

It is a long, dark hallway filled with portals of different colors. The hallway is so long that it actually seems endless. There are torches on top of every portal, so the place was dimly lit. Weird thing is, mobs never spawn here, even though it is dark and spacious enough. It is probably one of the things up the Old Builders' arsenal that they haven't discover yet.

Opening the trapdoor to the long stairway, they begin to walk upstair. Jesse had ordered each person to bring the very basic: camping tents for at least one person, sleeping bags, ration bars or dry goods, water, their respective weapon, and some toiletries. If they wishes to bring anything else, it's their choice.

After a final check on equipment, he deemed them ready for action. With a flash of the familiar blue flint and steel, they are on their way.

Greetings them at the top of the staircase, however, are a pair of guards. The two asked them if they are here for 'The Games' or not.

"We are here for Otto. Can you please send him a message saying that Jesse and the others are here?"

The pair of guards nodded, and the one on the right went. Meanwhile, Jesse and the other have a look around the place. Petra picked up a brochure and raised an eyebrow. Lukas looked over her shoulder and whistled. Apparently Otto had kept his promise about making the games better, safer and more fun for the participants. Gone were the rules about mining in the Nether as punishment, replaced by a forfeit of being unable to enter the games for a week. As for the mine, Otto had transformed it into a game area, where competitors have to search for treasures, as many as possible and bring it back. The team with the most loots will win.

Jesse observe the scenery through a windowpane in the room. The competitors' village has changed drastically. It almost resembles a town now, with people bustling in and out. Shops were opened for armors and weaponry, purchasing using points from the game. All of the Tim pictures are gone, and the people seemed happier. The center of the town, however...

"Holy cow! Look at that!" Axel exclaimed. Jesse was surprised, as he did not sense Axel coming earlier. They peered down and look in the direction Axel pointed. Collective gasps can be heard from everyone. The brunette whistled. This is certainly unexpected.

Down there, in all of it's glory, is a statue of multiple people. Not just anyone, but the New Order of the Stone, with Jesse in the middle. The statue was either painted in gold, is made from something similar, or it is gold itself. Jesse and the other was in their full armor, but the brunette has Tim's armors and weapons on. There is a board next to it, seemingly describing their battle against Hadrian and Mevia. Red ropes surrounded the statue, and everyone passing by look at it in awe.

"Like what you see?" A voice ask from behind them. Jesse turn around, and spotted Otto standing a good three meters from them. They happily greeted each other like old friends should be, and discuss the new improvements of the game briefly, before Jesse introduces the Old Order.

"Otto, this is Gabriel, my mentor,-" said man wave at Otto with a grin, "-and Ellegaard." She nod at Otto respectfully and he did the same.

"Ah, it is an honor to finally meet you two. Jesse had a wonderful mentor to be this strong and brave. I'm sure you've heard about it, but your student here had knocked some senses into my wayward teammates, and rescue everyone here in the process. I can not thank him enough." Otto shook Gabriel's hand, as Petra silently snickered. After all, the Old Builder knew what exactly happen regarding to a certain dragon and command block.

"It is really nice to meet you again, Otto. And I really can't wait for a tour around here sometime, but we have some major problems. We need your help." Jesse said, face turning serious.

Otto was surprised, but kept his cool facade. He motioned his guards to get back to their station while leading the Order to his office. Serving them a cup of coffee each, he began listening to their retell of the situation. The aging man realized that it is a major concern. He know about the Zircon stone, and to his current knowledge, there are only three places that have such material.

Setting his cup of coffee down, Otto started, "To my current knowledge, there are only three places existed that have the material you spoke of. Zircon is loved by nobles, you see, so there was a war over it. The first place wiped itself out during said fight, and the Zircon is either buried deep underground, or destroyed. A shame, really." He slowly shook his head, "As for the second place, people had mined so much Zircon that it started to pollute the air, filling it with carbon dioxide. There are still Zircon available, but I wouldn't go there if I were you."

Jesse couldn't resist a gulp, "What about the third one?"

"The third one is probably the safest bet, though I really can't really guarantee your safety. It is a kingdom, very prosperous and feared by other nation that surrounds it. It is ruled by, from what I heard, a tyrannical princess sixteen years of age. She implied heavy taxes, kill anyone dares to oppose her, and enjoy life in the castle without much caring for the citizens outside."

Petra mumbled, "Wow, what a spoiled brat."

"I am aware, but there are something more concerning. Her right hand man, Prime Minister Derek, is a mystery. He got his position after the assassination of the previous one. Derek had served under the late king, who was murdered, I believe, and now currently ruling for the most part of the country, since the princess is unable to. You won't get your hands on the Zircon stone easily, that's for sure. They are rare, very rare so therefore they are expensive. You are outsiders, try not to cause trouble."

"Even so, our world is depending on it. We have to try. No pain, no gain after all." Lukas chimed in.

Otto chuckled. "That's the spirit. Anyway, there are a bit of history behind the stone itself. You might want to hear about this. This stone is old, very old. It appeared around the time planets were formed. The Zircon ore originally weren't on either of the three worlds I mentioned above, but a different one. I did not know how it gets there later on. But here is the myth of how the Zircon was formed."

Everyone is listening intently. Axel even stop his fidgeting motions. They are walking to the portal lead to the third world that Otto had mentioned. It is a long walk, so he thought, why not make it more exciting with a little background story?

"Long, long ago, there was a kingdom. They were really poor, and the kingdom was starting to collapse from the very inside. Taking the chance, another kingdom westward invaded, taking over. The leader of the invasion became the new king. Once, the newly appointed king was enjoying the beautiful scenery on a lake, when a giant golden turtle appeared. It said:-"

Olivia interrupted, "A talking turtle?"

"Yes. It proclaimed that it was sent from the heaven to help the king. The turtle gave the king one of its claw, telling him that if he uses it to make a bow, it will stop the other invading forces. By that time, the empire on the northern region wanted to invade the kingdom. The empire was rich, independent and have a strong military force, but lack the trading route the kingdom have. The emperor tried to invade the kingdom multiple times, but to no avail because of the magical bow. Each shot from the bow itself resulted in hundreds of arrows fired-"

Axel leaned forward, "Hold up, hundreds of arrows?!"

Otto's left eye twitch. "Yes. The emperor can't bypass the forces, so he thought up a different plan. He sent his only son to the kingdom to sign a peace treaty, and request a marriage to the king's daughter to strengthen the bonds between the two kingdoms. However, his true goal is to stole the magical bow, and finally, conquer the kingdom. The king agreed, because he like everyone else, was tired of bloodshed. The prince came to the kingdom to live, as ancient tradition stated the suitor have to spend a fair amount of time at his betrothed's house. The prince started his quest soon enough. At first, the princess didn't reveal any information about the bow, but time passed and she actually believed that they were a family now. She told him everything she knew, and even went as far as sneaking her husband into the chamber, where the bow lies. The prince switched the bow without the princess knowing, and left. A few days later, the prince requested to go back to the empire, stating he missed his parents. Before going, he told the princess to leave behind a trail of goose feathers whenever she goes outside of the castle, so if something happens he should be able to follow."

"Afterwards, the emperor invaded the land, once again. The arrogant king just laughed at them, but do nothing. When the enemies were near, he orders the troops to use the bow, but it didn't display any of it's magical effect. The enemy surrounded the castle, and the king have to abandon everything to run away with his daughter. The princess, of course, left a trail of goose feathers from her coat because of the promise with the prince. During their travel, the golden turtle raised once again, and told the king that the princess was the one who let the information of the bow leaked to her husband. Blinded by anger, the king ended his beloved daughter's life with his sword, and drowned himself afterwards. The prince, finding the princess' corpse, felt guilty and remorse over what he had done to his wife, jump down into a well nearby and end his life." Otto stopped to let the story sink in. "Rumors spread that the princess' blood was washed into the sea, settle under the bottom of the ocean, making what you now know today as Zircon. If you wash the Zircon in the water of that well, then the gem will shine brighter than ever."

The Old Builder ended his story. Olivia and Ellegaard are sniffling, while Axel is downright crying. Petra and Lukas are silent, while Gabriel is contemplating something.

Jesse wondered. "Did the others ever found out what happened?"

"Sadly, no. The emperor thought his son died in battle. The story started to go around probably two hundreds years after what happened. And by the way, here we are." Otto jerk his head.

It is a portal made of lapis lazuli, radiated with soft azure light that have the typical swirl portals bear. Jesse have to admit; he is nervous about the whole ordeal, but Beacon town- no, the whole world's survival is resting on their shoulder, once again. Shifting his backpack on his shoulder, he turn around and thanks Otto for his generous help.

"Don't be. I wish I could have helped you more, but The Games won't last without someone monitoring it. Just...be very careful. You guys are strangers, try to blend in with them, and don't cause any trouble. If you can, fly off the radar, stay hidden and most importantly, don't get caught."

Petra smiled, "Don't worry, we've got this in the bag!"

"I know, I know." The Old Builder chuckled, amused at the girl's antics

And off they go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Is there anyone actually reading this?**

 _'thoughts'_

* * *

"Here is your meal."

A guard promptly dropped the tray containing seven small bowls of rice gruel in front of their cell, and left.

Axel prodded at the small bowl with his finger and whined.

"I can't fill myself with this. And they didn't even give us water at all! And a spoon!"

Olivia poked him in the ribs harshly, "Be thankful they are actually giving us something to eat at all."

Jesse sat in a corner of the cell, pinching the bridge of his nose at the incredulity of their situation. Next to him, Gabriel looked about two seconds away from doing the same. Lukas is still unconscious because of a harsh blow to his head— if they ever meet whoever it was, then he's going to smash their face in for good. Ellegaard did the smartest thing by ignoring the idiots around her and fell into a meditative stance, but her hands are somewhat restricted by the cuffs they all wore.

Pause. Rewind. How did they even get here?

* * *

Going through the portal again was not a good experience, Lukas promptly decided as he turned a bit green around his face.

He was hiding behind a barrel of beer—and oh god the awful _smell_ —in what looked like a grand palace of sort. The others are either hiding, being chased by a platoon of crazy soldiers or captured. The blond journalist knew for a fact that Axel and Olivia had their hands tied in this situation, literally, as they were moved to a cell earlier. Last he saw of Petra and Gabriel, they were forced back by at least a dozen soldiers, and he couldn't do anything to help them, as he was running away from his own mob. Gabriel and Petra were with him, but they separated at some point. And he knows about Ellegaard's situation about as well as his own. Which is nothing.

But still, their group have the worst luck, like ever. When they traveled through the portal that Otto had pointed to, he had expected to land at some sort of happy meadow, like most other times. But no, the universe seemed to make it a habit to prove them wrong all the time. They had landed in what was probably the worst place possible; the tea table that the princess is currently having dessert at.

Needless to say, they got chased out of there a split second later by some startled guards. And separated, as no one knows the way around the place. The palace was painted in mostly gold, ruby, and some white here and there as well. Otto had warned them to not cause any attentions to themselves and fly under the radar, but they did the exact opposite not even a second after being in this strange place. Really, did they have a curse placed upon them by Ivor or something? Knowing that crazy scientist, it's not too farfetched to assume the worst.

Assuming that everyone got caught, then now he should gather informations. Like at what cell they are holding his team at, or a map of the palace. Or maybe-

"There he is!" Someone shouted, and whoever it is—he will curse them all to hell until the day he die—pointed his finger straight at Lukas and alerting his companions at the same time.

Lukas cursed his horrid luck, not for the first time that day and wisely retreated. He made a beeline for the nearest corner. Spotting a pair of unexpected guards in front of him, he drew his iron sword. A strike from the back had both of them out of the game, and he continues running. At some point, Scarface #1 had rung the alarm bell, but he could care less about that now. Idiot #8 swing the sword at him, but he blocked it with his own and kneed the poor lad in the stomach, and finally kicked him back to his friends in midair. Idiot #8 crashed into the others behind him as they screamed obscenities.

He left them behind the cloud of dust and ran for his life. Reaching a room with black as the main theme, he hid behind the door. The sounds of the soldiers echoed in the distance, but became further and further apart until there was nothing left. He was about to sigh in relief when the door swing open. Two people walked inside. The blonde assumed the one leading is the owner of this room.

The man wore a simple black suit, consisting of a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. His legs was bandaged to the ankle, but there was no visible injuries, so the blond guessed that it was just for show. He wore an azure armor with numerous metal plates on it; it could be a type of stone, Lukas wasn't sure. But it was shiny, so he went with metal. It forms a protective guard along his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs. He also wore a leather strap across his right shoulder to his lower left side that hold a shiny black scythe in place. His jet black hair fell over his left eye, very spiky and about mid-back in length. His coal eye swept around the room, checking for anything abnormal.

The man trailed behind him had a pair of mismatched eyes; blue on the right and purple on the left. He also look really feminine. If not for a little bit of beard that stuck out on his chin; most likely that the man didn't shave it this morning, Lukas would've really thought that he was a woman. He has long and straight platinum silver hair that ends at his thigh, and wore a battle kimono of aqua and green-ish leaves. The journalist could see the white lining on the delicate kimono and black pants. The man also carried a bow on his back.

The black haired man turned around and looked at the other straight in the eyes. Suddenly, there was a noise behind him, and he's sure as heck that he did _not_ make that sound. The white-haired man disappeared from his view.

Pain came from behind his head, and he knew no more.

* * *

Even without years of experiences in combat, Gabriel could tell that they are losing.

He kicked a nameless soldier in the gut, causing his saliva to fell out as he gasped in pain. But the warrior paid no attention to it and immediately send the man flying with a roundhouse kick to his midriff. Petra is slicing through her enemies like butter, no pun intended to her golden sword, and the warrior could see the hesitation coming from their enemies in approaching. But Gabriel was losing stamina, and at a fast rate. Petra was already showing signs of fatigue and exhaustion, and he knew for a fact that they would not last longer if they continued this battle.

They had landed face-first to the white tea table that the princess is hosting a small tea party with two other female servants. Quick as ever, Petra immediately composed herself and held one maid hostage, allowing the rest of the group the time to escape. They were shortly separated, with Petra tagging along with Gabriel and Lukas. They ran for a while before bumping into Axel and Olivia. Unfortunately, the guards got the two before they can save them.

Shortly after, a guard attacked Lukas from his side, and the blond was sent flying into the empty barrel lining on the other side of the wall. Gabriel immediately charged to help him, but was stopped by a long silver-haired man with a pair of mismatched eyes. The warrior had narrowly dodged a couple of arrows shot his way, and shuddered to see the green bubbles floating on it. It is one of those new arrows coated in potion. That, he has no doubt would do him great harm.

The unknown man grabbed the sword from a fallen soldier's grasp, and charged. Gabriel had to admit that his opponent is fairly skilled with a katana. They trade blows, and the warrior made sure not to touch his opponent in anyway. The man seemed to be a poison specialist, if those bottles on his waist are any indication. And from his various uncomfortable experiences with Ivor, Gabriel know not to engage poison specialists in hands-to-hands combat. Petra suddenly charged in and kicked the man across the hallway they are fighting in.

She shouted, "Let's go. They are closing in on us!"

Gabriel nodded. True to her word, a new mob had formed and is currently charging at them. After a few twist and turn, Gabriel had pretty much lost all hope, because they are literally being pushed back into a corner, with the rest surrounding them. He looked around, there is a window, far back from the mob.

He exhales. He doesn't care if he got caught here. Getting Petra to safety should be his first priority. He had failed his teammates once, and was not about to do the same to his disciple's. Bracing for impact, he grabbed Petra's arm and jumped up with all the power he could gather with what little stamina he had left, and grabbed the wall lamp. The lamp's cracking noise can be heard, so he had to act fast. He threw Petra towards the nearest golden chandelier, because which palace doesn't have one?

She immediately grabbed on to it on instinct and swing herself forward, landing in a backflip safely behind the mobs. The wall lamp broke off from the wall and he fell down.

The last thing he heard was someone screaming his name.

* * *

"Go faster!" One of the guards yelled.

Axel glared at the man and I resisted the urge to smacked him on the back of his head. Not that I could, because of the chains bounding my hands.

We were captured pretty fast, because we were at the bottom of the dog pile on the princess' tea table. Axel landed face-first on top of the apple pie that is apparently the main guest of the tea party. He did say it was delicious before we were captured. It was quick and overall, painless.

The two of us were chained in a line, with the head of the guards holding the chain and walked us to our cell, almost like a dog. I groaned inwardly. We had broken almost all of Otto's rules for going into a new world, and now I don't know where the others are; nor their safety. I definitely saw Gabriel, Lukas and Petra just before we were captured, though.

"Get in!" The guard barked, kicked us in and locked the cell. Couldn't he be a little nicer? The jerk.

We sprawled across the stone floor and Axel doesn't even bother to get up. I checked my cuffs. Two bad my wrist are tied together, otherwise I could have get the lock picking tool I had in my hair. Not just the lock picking tool, I also have a lever, a button, and some redstone dust in a pouch under my shoes. All of my other supplies and weapons were taken away. Thankfully they didn't do an overall check. But now that I think of it, I really need to improvise for situations such as these; where I could not reach my hair.

"I wondered if everyone got caught." Axel said, effectively snapping me out of my musing. I glanced at him and shrugged. Who knows.

"Most likely. The question is if we will be held in the same cell." _And if we all are, then I'd have to question these guards' sanity. Not that I haven't already..._

Axel snorted. "Doesn't matter. As long as one of us aren't caught, we can all get out in no time. Jesse will come and help us, since he's the most likely to not get caught. He is a sly one."

As if on cue, our prison door banged open and a random guard kicked a brunette in, and slammed it shut. Jesse winced at the rough treatment and stared at the both of us. I snickered. "Sorry, I didn't hear what you just said."

"Forget it." Axel grumbled.

"Axel, Olivia, are you alright?" Jesse asked, and ignore our inner jokes. Probably for the best.

Axel quirked an eyebrow. "Yep. Anything to share?"

Jesse nodded. "After we were separated, I ran eastward towards something that looked like a horse stable. I saw a man there and he swung a black scythe at me. Which I blocked with my sword by the way." Axel whistled, and he continued. "We trade blows for a while, but I was careless and he kicked me towards a wall. I went unconscious until someone slapped me up and now I'm here. You?"

"We got caught go quickly that it was almost embarrassing. Anything from the others?" I inquired.

"I do. Lukas got away, while Gabriel and Petra were pushing them last I heard. Ellegaard is-"

At that, another voice spoke up. "Right here."

We whirled around to see my teacher staring us in the face. There was no visible injury on her save for a small bruise on her shoulder, most likely when she hit the wall.

"When did you come here?!" Axel exclaimed, and Jesse had to shush him. Normally I would have done it but I'm too busy gawking at Ellegaard to care.

"From the very beginning. I was just wondering when you would notice me. And before you asked, I hid under the bench they called a bed over there." I snapped my mouth shut with an audible click.

Oh well, at least we've got company in this closed off, cold and stoney place of a cell.

* * *

That pretty much summed up the situation at hand. Lukas had woken up at some point; it was too hard to keep track of time in this secluded place. Twice a day, a guard would bring a tray of food, usually rice gruel, to feed us. Occasionally he brought some water as well. No one had come to interrogate them yet, save for the princess herself.

The princess was a beautiful young girl that couldn't be over the age of sixteen. She stood high and proud, looking down on them with barely concealed contempt shown through her emerald eyes. Her pale blond hair was tied up to a short ponytail ending at the nape of her neck, with small red rose earrings and light rosy cheeks adorning her features. She was crossing her arms on her light aqua gown that sparkle through the darkness of the cell. The princess, Jane, didn't believe that this is an accident at all, and set for their execution date to be next week, at twelve o'clock on the city square. Then, she walked away, the two men trailing behind her could be identified as the sniper that fought Gabriel and the scythe wielding man that fought Jesse.

The silver haired man had stayed silent throughout their conversation with the princess, but the other one introduced himself as Derek. Jesse immediately tensed up, as he had tested the man's skill first hand and found out that Otto's concerns were truly justified. Derek didn't do anything other than asked a bunch of questions related to their situations and allegiance. Jesse visibly relaxed after the trio left. And of course, they didn't give away any hints about Petra.

Axel is scarfing down the rice gruel, while Olivia is eating it in a more dignified manner—as dignified as a person whose wrists are tied together could anyway. Petra is nowhere to be found, most likely she hasn't been caught yet. Gabriel is visibly tensed, and Jesse guessed that the survivor's guilt really got to him.

His mentor had never been the same after Magnus' death. He hadn't recognized the man because of amnesia, and not even when Ellegaard told him stories about the Order. Gabriel was aware that save for Ivor, Magnus is the only one in their group that showed some hesitation about claiming the Ender Dragon's death by the Order's hand. Ellegaard had talked him down to it in the end, only because he had always trusted the engineer and her genius mind. Despite them fighting days on end like cats and dogs, Magnus respected Ellegaard's intelligence and would followed her plans if it was a serious situation that was a life or death matter.

Soren was never found. Axel theorized that he'd been blown away by the Wither Storm, but even then Jesse had found no trace of his body. Some of his supplies at the End has vanished, including some of his research notes that even Ellegaard had no idea about. They drew a final conclusion that he had decided to travel the world and avoid confronting them for whatever reasons; which was most likely guilt. Lukas vowed to track the architect down to question him properly about his cowardly actions back them. Everyone knew that Lukas, believe it or not, was most upset by Soren's display of cowardliness at what was probably the most important moment.

Suddenly, a cried from the guard snapped the brunette out of his musing. Everyone looked up as the last guard was knocked out. A familiar voice cried out to them, dangling the keys to their cuffs.

"Guys! I'm glad you are safe and all but we have an emergency!" Petra cried.


	4. Chapter 4

The loud siren rang throughout the cell, as all the guards immediately stopped what they are doing, and rushed to their designated prisons. Some had stopped to pick up their weapons, or check the places for traps, but most had charged in immediately without hesitation. They were greeted with an empty cell, doors opened with a paper note hanging on the wall. It reads: 'See ya later, idiots!'

Needless to say, everyone was stunned, some was even irked by this odd turn of event. The guards on duty of cell five were knocked out cold, and cups of sake was broken around them, indicating whoever broke the prisoners out had striked in the dark. The prisoners' weapons and belongings were gone. One of the guard tried to wake his friend up to interrogate him.

A few minutes later, the silver-haired archer burst in, and demanded angrily.

"What happened here?"

One of the guards who were knocked out earlier, shakily stood up and bow on one knee, with left hand curved around right fist and put it in front of his chest. "Sir Issac, the prisoner had escaped! We were playing cards, when the auburn haired girl from earlier knocked us out with the back of her sword! We do apologize for our less than desirable actions—"

The archer, who is now identified as Isaac, was livid. "Your only job is to guard the prisoners, and you couldn't even do it?!" He furiously turned around. "What are you idiots waiting for? Search for them immediately!"

A choruses of 'Yes, sir!' replied him, as Isaac anxiously bit his lip. This could turns out both ways for their plan, and he hoped his lord wouldn't be too mad about this new development.

* * *

"What do you mean Derek is trying to murder the princess?!" Axel dropped his jaw on the floor, exclaiming in horror.

Everyone else whipped their heads around and make the universal sign for 'silence'. The self-proclaimed terrorist immediately shut his mouth. Olivia felt the urge to smack him upside the head, but kept her cool. Now is not the time for dramatic acts. They are on the run, and it wouldn't be much longer until the guards discover them.

"Lukas, remember how you got caught in Derek's room?" Petra inquired. It's best to started at somewhere after all.

Lukas nodded. "I do-wait, how did you know?!"

"That was me. I accidentally kicked the closet's wall." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I'd thought that I'm done for sure, but he caught you instead. Sorry about that." Petra turned serious once more. "But anyway, Derek and Isaac planned to murder the princess tonight, and release us in the morning, so we will escape and become the ultimate criminals, blamed for her highness' demise. Derek had a fake will from the princess to give him the throne ready. If the intel are correct, which I know they are, that guy will act at twelve sharp. That's the gist of it."

"That bastard!" Lukas hissed.

"Luckily you got us out in time, huh?" Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, chuckling lightly despite the situation.

Axel coughed, effectively grabbing everyone's attention. "What should we do now, beside the obvious of course. Should we rescue the princess? Or just leave her there and get out of here?"

Everyone pondered for a moment, until Ellegaard speak up. "Personally, I think we should rescue the princess." A questioning glance from Olivia made her elaborate further. "I mean, if we escape now, this Derek can pin the blame on us after he kill the princess. If we rescued her, maybe she will forgive us and helped us find the Zircon gem. Remember, time is of the essence here. If we became fugitives, every town we come across will report on us, making our search harder than it already is, therefore hindering our search."

Jesse has to agree with her. That is sound logic indeed. "Alright, we will help the princess, then. Any objections?"

When silence ensued, he continued. "Any ideas where we should start?"

"I snatched two maps from those guards, and found an underground tunnel that will lead us outside. Just in case shit hit the fan, we will have an escape route ready." Petra smirked, and take out two maps from her pocket. A location was marked with a red X, as the meeting point. "We should divide into two groups as well. One will go outside, testing the underground tunnel for traps or the likes, while the other will be tasked with rescuing the princess. It will cause a lot of unwanted attentions when we are traveling with such a big group like this. And then we can divide the map between two groups."

"That's right. Just in case you fail to rescue the princess, the other team can find the Zircon first, bring it back home to fix the pillar and come back here with reinforcement—" Gabriel was interrupted by Lukas.

"Wait, why do we have to find the stone first?! You have seen what the princess could do! She can just order our execution on the next day, should we be caught before then!" He exclaimed.

Olivia said. "No, Lukas. Gabriel is right. We don't know how much longer the pillar will hold without the gem. It can collapse in a month, a week, tomorrow. Hell, it could be collapsing right now! If that happen, Beacon town, Redstonia—our people—will suffer, Lukas. We can't just put our lives above the whole world. It-It's just not fair to them."

Jesse turned away with a pained look marring on his face. "I really hate to say this, but Olivia is right, Lukas." He ignored Lukas' scandalized look and continued. "Should one team is captured, the other _must_ bring the Zircon back at all cost."

The blond gritted his teeth, but he knew that Jesse is correct in his judgement. "Fine, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." He spat.

"Trust me, no one here does." Gabriel placed a comforting hand on Lukas' shoulder.

They are in some sort of royal dining room, hiding under the table. The table itself was around six meters along and has white cloth covered the whole thing. The setting of the place really reminded Jesse of the Murder Mansion, where Captain Sparklez was killed, Jesse realized with dry humor. There will be a murder or two tonight, depends on the situation at hands. And hopefully it won't be his team on the list.

"Alright, Lukas, Petra and Gabriel, you are with me to rescue the princess. Ellegaard, Olivia and Axel, you guys are to meet at the red X marked on the map. And here," Jesse tossed the blue flint and steel in Ellegaard's direction as she caught them one-handed. "If we aren't there the next morning, find the gem and the portal to use that."

Axel whispered, "But what about you guys? If the portal was destroyed somehow, then how would you guys get back?"

"Don't worry. Hadrian mentioned that in every world, there is a castle that held the enchanted flint and steel, like ours. We'll find them if necessary." Olivia seemed visibly relaxed by Jesse's reassurance. Axel wordlessly handed Jesse some TNT. They have been friends for a long time, and Jesse doesn't need verbal assurances to know that Axel is worried about him.

"Alright, we should go. I think I heard the alarm. They should have discovered that we'd escaped by now." Gabriel said. "I wished you all the best of luck, and pray we will get out of this mess safely."

They parted way then, with Ellegaard's group heading west of the castle to the meeting point, and Gabriel's group went south, to where they believe is the princess' chamber. They stealthily sneaked around the corner; Petra is annoyed that this is taking too long, and the princess will be long dead before they can help, but a nudge from Jesse quickly stopped her complaining. Gabriel then smacked his forehead, and rummaged through his armor. He quickly pulled out two splashed potions and sheepishly said:

"I apologize, I completely forgot that I'd pack these ahead of time."

Gabriel splashed the potion of Invisibility down on the floor, while Lukas is trying to stop Petra from strangling Gabriel herself. Jesse simply facepalmed.

They continued the rest of the way, narrowly avoiding the guards. After halfway, they used another bottle. Everything was going so well, and they have crossed three-fourth of the distance, until they dodged a barrage of tipped-arrows. Glancing at the attacker, they weren't that surprised to find Isaac holding his bow out.

"I know you are there. You can not escape me, for I am a potion specialist. I can clearly see your poor usage of it. Now, tell me who you are, intruders. And don't bother moving, I would know." His mismatched eyes glared at them. The four drew their weapon, and charged at Isaac. The archer swiftly moved out of the way, having sensed the attack coming beforehand.

The guards are rounded up and are approaching from afar, just in time for the potion to lose its effect. Jesse knew that they couldn't take the guards and Isaac at the same time, so he took the TNT from Axel and give some to Lukas to spread around the place. It is a risky plan, but the cards could work in their favor if played correctly; which the brunette fully intended to.

He set the TNT off, and the wall collapsed. Rubbles fell on the soldiers, burying them under the golden structure. Some had crossed just in time, but Lukas had shot the chandelier down so it fell on top some of them. The glass structure shattered, as blood began to pool the clean floor of the castle. Jesse slayed some who were lucky to avoid it, and set a line of fire, three rows thicks, to stop the other invading forces, with the blond backing him up. Lukas shot at the one who were trying to get the water to set the fire out. They continued to stop the guards from coming in that direction, while the princess' chamber is just down the hallway. With a large number of the guards stuck behind then rubble wall, then the few who are helping their teammates' wound from the fallen chandelier and those that were stopped by the fire, the number of enemies Jesse and Lukas had to deal with greatly lessened.

Petra and Gabriel on the other hand, are evenly matched with Isaac. The man is fast on his feet, but isn't that strong in hand-to-hand combat. He is a long range fighter, and a poison specialist, as he had bombarded the two with Harming potions times and times again, but thanks to their warrior instincts, they dodged them with few complications. They weren't so lucky with the arrows, however. It had resulted in several cuts from the Harming potion coated arrows. Isaac was pushed back, as he have to dodged both of their swords, and his bow can't be use as a shield to block.

"Argh!" Issac cried out, and fall down to the floor, clutching his arm. Gabriel's diamond sword pierced through his bicep, forcing him to drop his bow. Petra landed in a backflip, panting. Gabriel knocked the man unconscious, as blood began to pool around his arm. The soldiers cried out for their leader, as Jesse and Lukas turned around.

"Jesse, Lukas, you two should go and stop Derek. We are pretty much drained from fighting Isaac, and wouldn't be much help in taking Derek out. Go, Petra and I will take care of them." Gabriel said, and charged at the rubble, picked a rock up and threw it at the enemy on the other side of the firewall. Jesse had no doubt that the mob stuck behind the wall he blew up earlier have gotten reinforcements by now. He gave the rest of the explosive to Petra, as she nodded and went to help Gabriel finish off the rest of the soldiers on this side. Jesse and Lukas ran off.

Once the remaining soldiers were exterminated, Gabriel tied and gagged Isaac with the rope the soldiers carried, while Petra loot whatever is available from the corpses. The former knew that the princess would want to press charges, if not execute the man publicly, so Gabriel didn't kill him. Climbing on top of the rubble wall, Petra could see that reinforcement is approaching. The alarm never let off.

After splashing them both with Isaac's Regeneration potion, she lit the TNT, and threw it at their opponent from behind the high rubble wall. Gabriel took Isaac's bow and various arrows to fired them. They have the high ground advantage, and they will use it to the best of their abilities. Some of the soldiers tried to climb on top of the rubbles, but Petra kicked them back, landing and blocking the others' path.

"Gabriel! Fire charges incoming!" Petra yelled, as the soldiers threw a handful of flaming black balls towards them. With his left hand, Gabriel took the sword from his back and skillfully deflects the incoming objects back at the soldiers. Petra had taken all of Isaac's potions while he is unconscious, and threw down a splashed potion of Fire Resistance on herself and Gabriel. She herself drank the Strength potion on top of that, and begin to hurl broken pieces of the palace across the rubble wall.

The soldiers were in a frenzy. The enemies are attacking, they can't reach them, the fire wall hinders some of the soldiers back and the girl keeps throwing rocks at the squads, prevents the extinguishing of the fire and making specific formations impossible. It is going to take a while for all the forces in the palace to round up, as they are busy evacuating the nobles and important figures living in the palace. The princess is in danger, as the two others went down the corridor, where her highness' room is.

This is going to be a nightmare and a half to deal with.

* * *

A shrill scream reaches Jesse's ears, as he kicked the door open. There, next to the vanity desk, the princess crumbled on the floor, shaking with fear. The scythe was lodged in the middle of the mirror, as the shattered pieces of glass laid all the around the floor. On the other side of the room, Derek slowly turned his head to look at them, a smirk adorning his face. He had changed since the last time Jesse saw him. In addition to the azure armor top, he now wore a bottom pants made of the same material, and the shoes.

"It's you!" Jesse accused lamely.

Derek chuckled, "Why, hello. We meet again."

"D-Derek! How dare you commit treason against me!?" The princess, Jane, glared up at the man in azure armor. Said man just sneered.

"Treason? What treason? This kingdom is mine, princess. Leon is definitely crazy to hand the throne over to a brat like you. You are prideful, selfish, ignorant and inconsiderate. This country will be doomed under your hand!" He charged for his scythe, and was about to stab the princess when Jesse blocked it with his sword. Lukas took it as an opportunity to strike, but was kicked in the gut by a recovering Derek, and he punched Jesse in the jaw as he flew backward.

The latter landed with one hand, as the other hand grip his diamond sword tightly. He charged and swing it down Derek's right shoulder, clashing with his armor. To his surprise, Derek just stood there, smirking, and then punched Jesse upward, and perform a roundhouse kick which sent him flying to the side, crashing in to the princess' bed. Derek swing the scythe at the brunette, but Jesse held it back with his two bare hands. It was close, and Jesse can't hold it any longer.

Lukas strikes from behind and Derek turned around to blocked it. Jesse grabbed the flint and steel from his pocket and lit his armor on fire. It did nothing, the fire slowly died out as Derek slap Jesse's hands, causing the flint and steel to flew off to god-knows-where. Jesse jump off the bed, and Lukas kicked the armored man to the side. The blonde did a backflip and landed next to his partner.

"This guy's tough. Even fire did nothing to his armor." Jesse brought his sword up, putting on a defensive style.

Lukas panted, "Not even an enchanted diamond sword can dent his armor. What should we do?"

Before Jesse can reply, Derek charged and punched Jesse, to which he brought the sword up to block. His eyes widened when the enchanted diamond sword shattered, and Derek kicked Jesse towards the door using his right leg, taking Lukas along because of the momentum. They crashed violently, and crumpled. Derek pants, and wipe a sweat from his head.

"You guys are tough, I'd give you that." He slowly approached the duo, scythe in hand. As he was about to swing it down, Jesse suddenly rose from the ground and punched him in the stomach, hard. Lukas, who got ahold of the flint and steel Jesse dropped earlier, lit Derek's hair on fire. The burnt hair smelled awful. Derek was punched in the stomach, compounded with the horrible smell, cut the burning hair off and collapse on the ground, barfing.

Taking that as an opportunity, Lukas picked the princess up for a piggy back ride, while Jesse covered his back and they quickly run out of the room. Preferably, Jesse would have finish him off, but he was weaponless, and he doubt Lukas' iron sword would do much damage. Derek lunged at them, but Jesse quickly slammed the man back to the shattering mess of the mirror. The broken piece of glasses impaled whatever skin still shown despite the armor, injured the man, as he cried out in pain. Lukas ran out of the room, without much protests from Jane, as she was scared to the bone. Jesse slammed the door shut, and followed the blond.

They need to get out of here, get the princess to inform the soldiers about Derek's betrayal and be done with it.

* * *

 **Life ain't that easy, Jesse. Especially if you are in a book ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

"All of you, stop immediately!" Jane yelled, crossing her arms and glared at the soldiers fighting back. Time itself seemed to stopped at that moment.

Jesse and Lukas had successfully rescued Jane from the room, and is now meeting with Gabriel and Petra. The latter duo had either knocked out, eliminated, or poisoned most of the soldiers in the vicinity. The brunette knew that more will be coming soon, as a palace doesn't just have two hundreds people. Only around thirty is still standing, and they have half a mind to abandon everything and run away now.

The princess' tears is still streaming down, as she listened to the soldiers' protests. "SILENCE!" Everyone stopped, and she continued. "All of this is just a misunderstanding. I order all of you to stand down immediately!"

"But your Highness! They've slaughtered most of us! We need to kill them in honor of our fallen comrades!" Someone in the crowd argued, and the others voiced their agreement. But before Jane can talk back, an arrow aimed at her head from behind. Lukas used his sword to deflect it and everyone turned around. It was Derek.

"Everyone, listen to me!" He roared. Jane cowered behind Petra, as the man's vicious display from earlier hasn't settled yet. Cries of 'are you okay?' and 'what happened?' echoed throughout the battlefield when the soldiers caught sight of their wounded superior.

"The princess is being controlled by these people! She is not in her right mind now! They murdered your general, Isaac, and injured me," He stopped and coughed up blood, as the soldiers in the background gasped in horror. "Worthy, loyal soldiers, capture the princess and kill the intruders! They have made a fool of us, and the princess herself! If you are a proud soldier of the Zircon Kingdom, then CHARGE!" Derek collapsed afterward, crumbling on the floor.

Gabriel's team was too shocked to actually do anything, as was Jane. Derek had completely turned the situation against them. The soldiers charged with a roar of battlecry, as they are now fueled with new determination from Derek's short speech. Jesse and the others were pushed back, as the soldiers had climbed over the wall of rubble when they didn't notice. They no longer had the high ground advantage here. Petra handed Jesse the potions after he said that his sword broke. Thirty-something soldiers charged at them, and he threw a couple bottles of Slowness potion, buying them four minutes of time.

But they have nowhere to run. Jesse had blocked the other path with the rubble wall. The soldiers blocked the one in front of them and there are no windows in the corridor. They can't use Gabriel's tactic from earlier, as there are nothing to hang on, and they refuse to leave anyone behind this time, as it means death. The brunette internally chuckled at the deja vu situation he'd founded himself in. The only difference is that he was on the receiving end of this tactic, back when they were facing Ivor in that library.

"Go to my room!" Jane suddenly grabbed Jesse's arm and said. Seeing Jesse's questioning glance, she continued, "Trust me. There is a way to escape."

The pair of emerald eyes reflected sureness, and he immediately signaled everyone to run back to the princess' chamber. Lukas locked the door behind them as Petra, still in effect of the strength potion, lift as many heavy object as possible and pushed them to the door. Jesse encouraged Jane to explain,

Jane shakily said, "There is an emergency passage to get out of here, no one but the family of the ruler know about it. It can only be opened by this," Then, she reached to the back of her neck and take off her necklace. The object is in the shape of a flat teardrop, but there are tiny pieces of blue stones sticking out, so random that it is almost impossible to replicate the necklace.

Jane urged Jesse to hold the large portrait of herself on the wall to the side, revealing a hole with the exact same shape. She placed the gem on it, as a passage open. Gabriel noticed and immediately opened the windows, breaking a few branches closest to the window in the process, misleading the soldiers should they investigated the room later on. Petra went in first, followed by Lukas and Jane, taking the necklace with her. Gabriel made sure the door is still locked for the last time and went in. The passage was shut as Jesse followed the others.

* * *

"Anyone have a torch?" Petra asked. The passage was dark, and obviously no one have used it for at least fifty years. Gabriel whipped out a stick, and Jesse lit it up. The warrior lead the way, with Jesse closely behind him, and then Jane, Petra and Lukas took the rear. So one said anything, as the adrenaline rush hasn't gone yet.

"This is all your fault." Jane broke the silence and glared at the back of Jesse's head.

Petra sent an annoyed look at the princess. "How the hell is it our fault? It's certainly _not_ my fault you have a bastard of a prime minister in your palace." She sneered.

"Everything would have been fine if you guys never came." Jane snarled. Lukas quickly stepped in between them, before Petra snap back.

"Now, now. It's not time for arguing. Jane, it isn't anyone's fault. If you want someone to blame, blame Derek and Issac."

Jane sent him an incredulous look, "It's your Highness to you, peasant."

Gabriel stopped in his course and turned back to glare at the princess. She flinched under the weight of his gaze. "Brat. Just in case you didn't hear what Derek said, you are now fugitives like us. Derek will probably take over the throne. Be glad that we actually save you from that mess. If it wasn't for you then we would have been out safely by now." He turned around and resume the pace. Everyone pointedly ignore her mutter of 'well, no one asked you to' under her breath, as they are too tired to start another argument.

The corridor is dark, and feels like it continued forever. It is nothing fancy, with arched metal ceiling and dirt ground that continued forward. Lukas checked the map, and concluded that they are heading the same way that they are supposed to go anyway. If they continue going that this pace, they will reach the half-way point of the red line, coincidentally where the royal emergency escape ends. Lukas snapped his finger and concluded that they will get to the meeting point by the morning.

"Your dress needs to go." Petra suddenly stated a little after, just to break the silence.

Jesse glanced over to the princess. It is true. Her ball dress is bright red, with sparkling ruby radiated off it. The fluffy dress is trailing on the floor, and the high heels aren't good to move around in a place like this either. Basically, if anyone found them, she would be an obvious target.

Unsurprisingly, Jane scowled. "No way. Even if I want to, I don't have anything to change into."

"Petra's right. You are a beacon in that stupid dress, might as well give our location away right now." Gabriel commented without looking back.

Petra dug in her backpack and pulled out an outfit. "Our sizes are similar, it'll probably fit."

Grudgingly, Jane complied. Petra stand in front of her, and shoo the other males to turn the other way. She glared a hole in their back, daring anyone to turn around while the princess is changing. After Jane's done, they continued their journey.

Jane tied her blonde hair in to a high ponytail, as always and let her bangs hang on both of the sides of her face and swept the strands on her forehead to the right. She wore a black vest and a pair of blue short like Petra's normal outfit with a yellow T-shirt underneath the vest. Jane wore dark red stocking to her thigh, and brown boots for easier traveling. She have a pair of fingerless glove and her necklace on, covered by the jet black cloak Petra had handed over afterward. It would be preferable if she wear armor like the rest of them, but she isn't a combat-type, so the armor will stop her from moving effectively. Furthermore, none of them had packed a spare set of armor anyway.

Jane kept silent, but is secretly grateful for the clothes change. The dress was uncomfortable to move with, as the muddy ground kept sticking her dress and her heels to the ground. It is also hot, since the fire is burning. But it doesn't feel right. She was a princess, and she had lost everything in a single night because of Derek and these strangers who are helping her. Is this karma?

They quickly reached reached the midway point, and pushed the hidden door open. No one was waiting outside the common emergency exit. Jesse can clearly see the difference between the two tunnels. Water droplets fell from the mushy earth ceiling that he have a feeling would drop any moment. The ground is kinda closer to mud, rather than earth. Jane squeaked at the bats hanging upside down in the distance. They quickly flew off.

"Jesse, look!" Lukas' exclaimation made the brunette turn around. It was carefully buried, but some shine of azure light shone through the earth, as if detecting its owner had came close. Some redstone dust lie around it, seemingly a coincidence. But they knew better. Petra ran ahead and dug the thing out and hold it in her hands.

It is Jesse's enchanted flint and steel.

Gabriel let out a deep breath. "So Ellie's team was captured."

Jesse stared at the glowing pieces, totally at a loss of what to do. They had agreed that if it comes to this, the other group would just complete the mission and come back with reinforcements. It was easy discussing it, but now that the hypothetical situation happened, Jesse can't bring himself to move forward and complete the mission, leaving Olivia, Axel and Ellegaard to their fate.

"We should go back and help them." Lukas whispered, so low that Jesse has to pay attention to hear it. Everyone heard him nonetheless.

Petra shook her head, "We have discussed this before, we are going to move forward and complete our mission."

The blonde journalist glared at her, "And leave the three of them there to die? You heard the bastard there, it's basically a kill-on-sight order for them!"

"Then they are already done in," Gabriel released a shaky sigh. "Let's go. The Zircon won't make their way to us soon."

Lukas turned around to face Gabriel in disbelief, "You—"

"He is right, Lukas." Jesse added, somewhat hesitantly, "We should move now, lest someone caught us. And we can't split up either," The aforementioned blonde snapped his mouth shut with a click. "You see how many people they have. We are exhausted and pretty much weaponless. I would reconsider it if we are at full strength. There's no way we will be able to break those three out as we are now."

Lukas glowered at them, but slump his shoulders in defeat. He knew they were right. They continued moving.

* * *

The meeting point was a wooden shack in the middle of the forest outside the castle. It was near the river, and no guards were there for border patrol. The shack itself is made from simple oak wood, around three by four square meters in area and three meters high. It is at least two or three years since anyone had last used it. The wooden door is pretty much broken, but the crafting table inside is still usable. The floor is just dirt, and they need to block the window just incase skeletons shot them at night.

Lukas immediately chopped off some woods and made a better door and a few fences for window, just to prevent mobs from breaking in. Petra and Gabriel swept the place clean of spiderwebs and other stuff, while Jane looked at the shack in disgust. Jesse ordered her to grab some water from the river, while Jesse himself went hunting. Gabriel had given him Isaac's bow and arrows, since the brunette is currently weaponless. Jesse doesn't stray far from his path, just in case guards found him.

No one came for the rest of the day.

* * *

In a meeting room, the important people in the palace is discussing vital things related to the incident last night. Derek had recovered somewhat, but Isaac is still in the hospital. The armored man had fed them the lies of how the princess were hypnotized: The auburn haired girl, Petra, evaded the guards and broke them out, then they split up, the four of them, Jesse, Lukas, Gabriel and Petra went to hypnotize her Highness to leaving the throne for them, while the other three, Olivia, Axel, Ellegaard made an escape plan.

Coincidentally, Derek himself was handing some reports in, and came too late to help the princess.

The council immediately believed him, as it matches what the guards had reported. One of its member asked,

"What should we do with the three prisoners?"

Another chimed in, "We should execute them."

"No, they have valuable informations about a different world! I say we tortured the answer out of them and use them as bait for the other three. And then we can end them all afterward." A bald councilman argued.

Most of the council nodded, but Derek said, "We have another pressing matter, the princess is not here, what should we do?"

Someone pushes his glass up and said, "Telling the kingdom that she is hypnotized into running away will cause a political disaster! Our neighboring countries will take it as an opportunity to wage war against us, and we do not need that on our plate right now!"

"What about Prince Allen? He had a marriage contract with our highness, is he not?"

"The Spinel Kingdom was never trustworthy in the first place. They would jump at any opportunity to conquer us!" One shouted.

"He could wait. We need to get into the main problem here. I vote for Prime Minister Derek to become the temporary leader of our country. The princess has never done much anyway. Sir Derek has always ruled our kingdom, which is currently going well. Besides, the late King Leon the III had granted him the Zircon Armor as a sign of trustworthiness. Who else would fit the criteria, other than him?" An old man with a long beard calmly stated.

The statement was met with a round of approvals, and Derek internally smiled. It isn't the way he wanted to get the throne, but the methods doesn't matter as long as the results are the same. "I thank you for your confidences in my leading ability, fellow councilmen. I promise I won't disappoint you." He stood up and bowed, as everyone applauded.

"Now that's one thing out of the way. We should find the princess as fast as possible... but not to reassign her the throne." A mischievous look adorned the glasses-wearing man from earlier.

"What do you mean, Sir?" A gruff voice asked.

He fixed his glass and continued, "The princess was never needed. She is useless and a nuisance. We shouldn't tell anyone about her disappearance, not even the soldiers or maids in the palace. Once we have found her, we would take the Zircon necklace, because the throne only recognized those who are leader as its owner only. We would eliminate her, tell everyone that the strangers did that. And Sir Derek will have the throne, as we have discussed."

Skeptical looks passed around the room, until the man who nominated Derek coughed, "You are aware that what you are insinuating is treason, right?"

Several pairs of critical eyes shot at the man, but he bravely answered, "I know I'm not the only one in this room that wants the princess dead. She'd mercilessly executed the servants, guards, soldiers or anyone who even spoke to her the wrong way! Our families, friends, dead because of a stupid, spoiled brat!" By now, the man had stood up and slammed his hand on the table, glaring around the room. He slowly sit down and muttered some apologies after realizing that he'd went a little too far.

Derek looked at him, and quietly murmured, "How many people agree with this operation?"

Unsurprising, he thoughts with some amusement, three quarters of the room agreed, followed by the rest who were too shy to spoke up before.

Derek announced, "Then it is decided. Princess Jane will also have a kill-on-sight order, along with the four who have escaped. You will not, under any circumstances, discussed any information other than the common knowledge everyone has. It will be counted as highest degree of treason and will be dealt with accordingly. Meeting adjourned!"


	6. Chapter 6

"This is all your fault."

Looking up from his warm mug of tea, which they salvaged from the empty hut, Jesse sent the princess an unimpressed look. Everyone else ignored her, as they are used to the spoiled girl's antics by now. No one ever came as they spent the whole day making the wooden shed somewhat livable. The holes in the shed were filled with brand new oak planks, and the door was freshly carved from birch on the crafting table.

The five of them was sitting around a small campfire, sharing what little food they've managed to catch. The traps they'd set around the place caught three rabbits, and Jesse found some potatoes, thankfully not poisonous. Gabriel prepared the rabbit, while Petra washed the vegetables, getting them ready for roasting. Lukas boiled the water to make some tea, as Jesse laid out the sleeping area. Gabriel brought an extra sleeping bag, so the princess wouldn't be sleeping on the dirt floor tonight.

Satisfied with their meal, Team Gabriel silently went back to doing their own things. Gabriel sharpened his sword, while Petra fixed and polished her armors. Lukas tried to make small talks with the princess and records everything in his journal, saying that it would be a wonderful adventure to write about in a futile attempt to lighten the mood. Jesse sat around and label all the potions that they stole from Isaac, while also sorting out his inventories. They all tried to avoid the enormous elephant kn the room, but found it was impossible. Lukas finally broke the dam and whispered softly.

"What do you think happened to Ellegaard's group?"

Petra shrugged, "Probably put on an execution order, or maybe killed on sight." She tried to act nonchalant about it, but those who are close to her can tell by the stiffness of her shoulder, or the slight waver in her voice that there was nothing to joke about in this situation.

Sadly, Lukas wasn't one of them.

"How could you say that?! They are our comrades!" He angrily stood up, towering over Petra, face twisted in anger.

Gabriel slowly looked up at him, giving him such a long, calculated gaze that made the blond male starts to squirmed. "Kid, everyone here is worried about them. But it doesn't change the fact that we have a mission to complete. If you have the energy to lounge around and getting angry like that, try think of someway we can get the Zircon gem, go back home and get reinforcements to here. Even if it is too late by then. They would like that."

Lukas gritted his teeth, but grudgingly turned back to his journal. Jane narrowed her eyes at Gabriel, and muttered, "So your ultimate goal is the Zircon, huh?"

"Yes. Do you know where we can acquire some?" Petra's gaze slid over to the young princess questioningly.

Jane simply smirked, "What about an exchange of informations?"

"Acceptable." Jesse nodded.

The girl sipped her tea, and turned to Jesse, "You tell me first, why do you need the Zircon?"

"Long story short? A friend of ours was stupid enough to move a pillar to his own home. There was a gem in the middle that hypothetically stopped most of the extreme natural disasters happening in my world. The gem had gone missing, and we need some Zircon to forge a new one. If not then the continuing disasters will ruin our home."

Jane hummed for a while, and nodded. "Okay, to put it simply, there are no raw Zircon left in this world."

You could have knocked the Order over with a feather at that statement. Even Gabriel had stopped fixing the joints of his armors, unable to stop the cold dread pooling at his stomach.

Lukas was the one who break the suffocating silence first, "Then we came here for naught?!"

"Not exactly. I said 'raw Zircon', not the Zircon themselves. Well, unless what you need is raw Zircon, that is." Jane explained, much to the relief of Petra.

The auburn haired girl told Jane that they aren't too sure about that, but Jane continued on with her story anyway.

"The thing is, we have mined all the Zircon years ago. So there are probably no ores left for you guys to take. However," She glanced to the left, clearly showing some discomfort. "One of the previous kings, my great grandfather to be precise, had used the remaining Zircon to forge three weapons: the shield, the sword, and the armor. They are extremely durable. In fact, Leon the I had won many battles, expanding Zirconia to the great size it is today. This kingdom is the greatest of the four in existence, with fearsome military force, even though they are nowhere near the level when Leon the I was alive."

Here, she dangled her necklace in front of everyone and said in a wistful tone, "This was his gift to his wife, Michelle. The necklace has passed down for generations, and only the next one in line for the throne can wore it. It is the key to getting the other weapons I have mentioned earlier. I know you can tell already, but Derek," she spat out the name as if it was poison, "somehow tricked my father into giving him the armor, I'm sure of it. The Zircon Armor was kept around the palace for the king, only giving it to the right hand man as a sign of trustworthiness. Leon the II hated war, so after the countries signed a peace treaty or a non-violence treaty, he had enchanted the sword by asking for an old witch's help, and sealed it on top of the Millennium Tree."

Jane hesitated for a bit before continuing, "As for the shield, my father keep it at our holiday island, not even Derek knew where its location is, because it is a giant moving mass of land." She smirked at Petra's small gasp. "Only the necklace can determine where it is. It acts as a safe house, for should we be in situations like this, we would have somewhere to hide." She finished bitterly.

"So what is your proposition?" Gabriel asked.

"Simple. You can help me gather the weapons, and I will let you take one of them back to your hometown afterward. It is made of Zircon, after all. And don't think about crossing the deal. As I said, only the person succeeding the throne can unlock the sword." Jane huffed a laugh.

Jesse raised an eyebrow, "What if someone inherit the throne while you are away? Namely one creepy guy in the blue armor?"

"It doesn't matter. They have to be accepted by the necklace first through a ceremony by the previous owner. As long as I'm still alive and kicking, Derek can't do anything even if the necklace accept him."

She slowly swirled her tea, which has gone cold after a while, "So, what is your answer?"

They looked at each other, and Jesse extended a hand.

"We accept."

They shook hands.

* * *

They set out for their first destination next morning. According to Jane, the Millennium Tree is the highest tree in existence, with a whooping height of ten miles up the sky. It is located on the far end of Silver city, in the Millennium Forest, about two weeks walk from their current location. Most of their trip went peacefully, only stopping when they need to disguise the princess. Jesse killed some squids in the nearby water, and turned the ink sacs to dyes. It smelled horrible, and Jane wouldn't let them applied it on her at first. But Petra reasoned that someone could recognize her and reported them, so the princess grudgingly complied. They also applied the black dye to everyone's hair, much to the team's displeasure. Team Gabriel's hair and armors are their most recognizable features, so it wouldn't do to get the soldiers on their tail because of that.

They somehow got rid of the horrid smell later on, and now Jane can be passed off as Jesse's younger sister, with their common emerald eyes. With some efforts, they tamed a few horses and build a small wooden caravan, since it would be easier to travel that way. It was enough to fit five sleeping rolls, a crafting table, a furnace, and two chests. They equipped a few of the wooden chests on the horse, and hide their armors or visible weapons in the chest within the wooden abode. It is for security's sake.

Lukas suggested that they should change their name too, just in case. So the caravan of wandering family is now consisted of Nathan, Alex, Han, Alison and Eve. Han, in this case Gabriel, is an uncle to the pair of emerald eyed siblings, Nathan and Eve, while taking care of two orphans, Alex and Alison, after a tsunami hit a village at the edge of Zirconia. They have been wandering around for a while, stopping at every town or so to trade animal furs for food and the like. Lukas, or Alex, had decided that is their cover story, and everyone had to give him credits for his amazing imagination.

During the trip, everyone acted as a family, a rehearsal just in case they messed something up later on. Better safe than sorry, after all. Gabriel, as the oldest, steer the horses and do the necessary paperworks with the guards or border patrols. Jesse and Jane will go hunting, with the former giving the latter tips about it to make her not look suspicious. After all, it is the duty of big brother to instruct their siblings on tasks like this, Jesse thought with some amusements.

Petra will set the camps, and cook whatever food the duo brought back, while Lukas will scout for any enemies nearby and get some water from a river, if there was one. They would sleep at nine, with Jane taking first watch, then Gabriel, to Jesse, Lukas, and Petra. Each watch lasts around two hours, and they are expected to move around eight in the morning, after finishing breakfast. Jane had been appalled at the prospect of taking watch, but Lukas countered that they better be safe than sorry. At least she took the first watch and get to sleep peacefully throughout the night.

Getting the necessary paperworks done is no trouble at all, as Jane had already known about the various laws, and brought her personal stamps with her. The guards immediately tensed up when they saw the princess' stamps on their paper. It was suspicious and a big risk to show the guards that a bunch of peasants having the signature of a ruthless princess, but Gabriel concluded that it is the fastest way to get into cities, even if it could tip Derek off.

After checking to see if it's real or not, they let them through to Straw village. True to its name, the village is pretty much made of straw. Straw houses are everywhere, even the farms is dedicated to growing straw. Jesse had never seen so many stacks of straw in his life.

They parked their caravan next to one of the shops, and immediately went to do their assigned roles. Han, as the old uncle, will stay to delicately carve various combs out of animal bones that was washed thoroughly to prevent smells, and attract customers that wishes to buy any. Nathan and Eve will go to one of the shop and trade rabbits furs, cows furs and sheep wool for rice, local vegetables and to some extend, money. It's not like they really need the food, per se. They'd pack enough rations prior to this adventure to last another two weeks alone. Luckily the guards at the palace never prod at anything in there.

Alex and Alison will go around the village to gather intelligences, and was surprised at the sheer animosity directed toward the princess. True to Otto's word, she was a tyrant, living in the palace without a care to the outside world. She can and will execute anyone she deems fit, and ignore other people's sufferings. According to the pair of elders, they had lost their son to the evil princess only because he'd suggest that her dress didn't matched her hair that day!

Jane didn't deny any of this at their meeting later in the night. But she said that she let Derek have most control over internal matters in the country, because she can't do it herself. Her father died when she was twelve, and she doesn't have a leader's qualities to rule the country.

Lukas planned to stay in Straw village for another day, to gather more materials and money, as the walk to the next town is further, so they would have to be prepared. The next day, only Lukas and Petra was out to do some social stuffs and tried to get the villagers to remember them, while Jane and Jesse stayed with Gabriel to finish grinding red, yellow flowers and purple lilacs to make dye. The warrior himself dyed the wool, making sure that the stocks is right for next town's sales.

The blond architect came back with a barrow of fresh water, a bag of flour, a large bottle of milk and a sack of potatoes, saying that an old lady gave it to them after he offered to fix the roof of her house. Petra concluded that the village doesn't have the geographic advantage like the others by not having that much rain for crops. That was why there were only around two hundreds people, as the others have abandoned the town to go and search for a more prosperous place to live.

They set out early next morning, with Gabriel steering the horse as usual while carving bones at the same time. Jesse and Petra were working on the ink sacs to make more dyes to sell at their next destination. Jane was working on embroidery using the dyed sheep's wool. Apparently she had taken on weaving, knitting and the likes while in the palace, to kill some time according to the princess. Admittedly, handmade wool isn't as easy to weave as the silk she was so used to in her palace. Lukas was mapping their journey, calculating distances and planning on extending their wooden caravan a little bit out behind. Maybe a balcony with a few fences, just for when they needed some fresh air. The architect had made some changes to the roof, as now they can access it to watch out for scouts using a pair of binoculars. Surprisingly, it was on sale in Straw village, and Lukas had bought it for the price of six gold coins.

And thanks to that, the blond-now-black is able to warn them just in time for the attack.

"Everyone! A mob consists of zombies and skeletons is coming at 9'o clock!"

Now, normally, the aforementioned mob would have been burned in the daylight, but they are currently passing through a jungle biome, where tall trees blocked sunlights away, extending the mobs' life a little longer. A zombie hissed, as a barrage of arrows lodged themselves at the wooden wall of the caravan.

Gabriel immediately moved to defend the horse, because he knew that they would run away if startled. Petra quickly equipped her armors and charged into the battlefield with her sword, followed shortly by Lukas. Jane hid away in the caravan, as Jesse climbed up to the roof, where he had the high ground advantage. Using Isaac's bow, he shot the zombies, but one of the skeletons got his left arm. Even though he had the high ground advantage, standing on the roof like that pretty much made him the prime target for those boney skeletons

The battle was over before he knew it, and Lukas was currently taking the arrow out, while Jane applied some healing potion on the wound.

"We need better protection." Lukas promptly declared. "I'll think of something."

They quickly returned to work after that, with Jesse doing less strenuous things because of his injured arm. Around midday, they stopped for lunch. Petra roasted a few fish left in the chests from the town for everyone, with salt and lemon as flavoring. Gabriel brought up a point:

"You know, there are cocoa beans in the jungle. Should we gather them?"

Jesse nibbled on his fish, and said, "Sure, why not? I doubt many people actually ventured into the jungle to get cocoa beans anyway." He paused. "Unless they've got their own farm."

"Even so, our cocoa beans are fresh from the jungle, that is some advantage right there." Petra said

After a while of discussion, Gabriel and Petra went to gather the cocoa beans, the former going because he complained about being stuck behind all the time was too boring. Jane, Jesse and Lukas stayed behind to gather the arrows and bones from the skeletons. They made a lot of bone meals from it, and incorporated it to the dye, creating a lighter shade and double the variety of dyes in their arsenal.

It was a start, as they need something to do on their way to Silver City. And it is a good cover to fly under the radar.


End file.
